Fairy Curse- A fairy tail fan-fiction
by 0mgness
Summary: A new enemy appears after a mission one day, and he takes quite an interest in Natsu;An interest that threatens Natsu's life. Will the guild pull through this difficult situation? Or will this be the one time that is just proves too much? (c)Hiro Mashima-Creator of Fairy Tail ...i do not own Fairy Tail...unfortunately :3
1. Chapter 1

Fairy Curse  
Chapter one-Golden bows and Cursed arrows  
Gray:

Grey fell to his knees in front of his best friend, blood had collected in a pool around Natsu, his Rosy hair stuck to his forehead and a line of blood was travelling down the side of his face, how could this have happened?

Only an hour earlier they were making their way back home after a long mission. Natsu had been acting strange, for him anyway, his behavior at the time would have been seen as normal to people who did not know him.  
Happy was sat on his shoulder, Gleefully ranting about how they were going to eat fish when they made it back to the guild, Lucy and Wendy were having a conversation about Mirajane's fashion sense, as most girls would.  
Erza and Grey were listening to Happy, or trying to, as the case may be. While Natsu was staring off into the distance, a very rare thing for the young dragon-slayer to do as he could hardly manage to think about things for more than a minute before making some snarky comment about how he could 'easily beat Gildarts' or challenging Gray to a fight.  
Carla was talking to Panther-lily as Gajeel was folding is arms and refusing to talk to anyone, he had insisted on coming on the mission, apparently he had been having some 'personal problems' back at the guild, but being Gajeel, he had been the first to tick off the enemy and had caused him to destroy a near-by house, of which the locals were not very happy for, and Gajeel had come away with only quarter of the reward he deserved for the mission.

Natsu was the first one to hear the whistle of the arrow, as it came soaring through the air towards them, Natsu grabbed Wendy and hoisted her up in the air, causing her to scream and cutting off happy mid-sentence, the arrow sunk itself into the ground where Wendy had previously been standing.  
By this time, Grey had realized what was happening and looked towards the direction of which the arrow had come from, but Erza had already grabbed the attacker by the scruff of his tee-shirt and was madly yelling at him, Natsu put Wendy down and everyone had come running over to where Erza was standing.  
"What the hell are you doing?!"Erza yelled, shaking the man violently, the man only smiled at this and remained calm on the other end of Erza's rage, something that even Natsu and Grey couldn't master.

The man was blonde, and had a large scar running down his face, which caused him to become blind in one eye. His one blue eye observed them all slowly.  
"I wasn't particularly aiming for the girl, it just so happened that she was in the way. She isn't the real target here."He smiled slyly and looked suggestively behind the group towards Natsu, Everyone followed his gaze and froze in horror at what they saw, Erza dropped the man and he brushed off his shirt.

Natsu's face was pale; he had a look of pained-shock and was looking down towards his chest. Wendy and Carla squealed in horror as they saw the tip of the arrow sticking out of Natsu's chest, blood streaming down in a steady line and collecting in a pool at his feet. Natsu fell to his knees and revealed the hooded man behind him, who was holding a grand looking bow with golden dragons etched into the sides.  
The man smiled smugly from underneath his hood and showed sharp white teeth before disappearing in flash of black smoke. Natsu coughed up blood and then collapsed onto the hard stone floor beneath him; his head hit the bricks with enough force to break a window.

Lucy screamed, her high pitched wail of terror could have been heard for miles, she ran towards him, tears ran down her panic-stricken face as she flopped down next to him.  
"N-Natsu? Natsu, wake up, Natsu!"She paused and looked around desperately, her eyes landed on a distressed looking Wendy, the girl was shaking, and Gajeel had covered her eyes.  
"Wendy? Wendy! What are you doing?! Save him! You have to help him Wendy!" Lucy shrieked hysterically, her hair coming loose from her ponytail.

Erza Knelt behind Natsu, her hands hovered in the air, unsure of what to do, an expression of Incredulity on her face. Grey too slumped in front of Natsu, his face a mixture of shock and anger, he looked towards the area where the blonde man had been standing, but he obviously wasn't stupid; the man had already disappeared.  
Happy truly was a disconsolate sight, he was mumbling incoherently and looked dazed, like he couldn't accept the situation; panther-lily grabbed his shoulder to steady him. Wendy suddenly broke free of Gajeel's hold and ran towards Natsu, like she had awoken from a dream, she immediately checked his pulse, and after a good while, a flicker of hope flashed across her face.  
"He's still alive! I have to do something! Anything, but I don't know what to do!" Carla came to stand next to Wendy and looked up at her with Concern. She put her paw on Wendy's shoulder and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Lucy's bawling, she was slumped over Natsu's chest, sobbing into his blood-stained clothes.  
"Do something!" She wailed. Gajeel looked away; this was one sight that he had never wanted to witness, as he did, he noticed the small archaic looking town at the edge of the hill, and an idea came to mind.  
"The townspeople!"He said, and received some confused looks from Carla and Panther-lily, Wendy looked at him ponderously, but then she suddenly seemed to realise and shot to her feet.  
"They should have a surgeon, right?!They have to help us!" She ran towards the town and Carla abruptly followed, dragging panther-lily with her. Gajeel gave Gray a reassuring look before setting off in the same direction. Erza adjusted Natsu's head so it rested on her lap and brushed his hair out of his face, his breathing was harsh and pained, and it was getting slower. Lucy desperately clung to his side; blood coated the front of her jacket and her hair stuck to her face from the tears. Happy sat near Natsu's head, dejectedly calling his name.

Gray looked around for any clue as to who those men were; he couldn't stand to see his friend in such a state. Why had they gone after Natsu? And why did they need to target Wendy first? To test him? But why, if they were just going to kill him anyway? He's lucky that the hooded man missed his heart, Gray thought. Missed? Did that man really miss, or was it intentional?


	2. Chapter 2

Fairy Curse  
Chapter two- Hidden Fears and Forgotten Pride  
Gajeel:

Gajeel ran for his life, he had never ran so fast for such a great purpose before, sure, his life had actually been in danger in the past, but even then he did not feel as unwaveringly desperate to go faster. He ran past Wendy, and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder, but no matter how fast he ran, he still wished to go faster, he couldn't let Natsu die, Natsu had saved his life. What life would he have led if he had not joined the Fairy Tail guild? If he had died when Phantom Lord had attacked Fairy Tail, he would never have met Levy, or Panther-lily, as much as he hated to admit it, Fairy Tail was family.

As they entered the village, Gajeel set Wendy down and raced towards the nearest human being, which happened to be a very small, stocky man with glasses. As Gajeel approached him, the man dropped the pile of books he was holding and scampered away, narrowly missing Gajeel's outstretched hand.  
"Oi! Where do you think you're going?!"Gajeel roared, clearly frustrated by the man's retreat. Meanwhile, Wendy cautiously approached an elderly woman with a bouquet of yellow flowers, who was casually making her way down the street.  
"Excuse me miss! Please help us!"Wendy pleaded; the woman looked shocked by Wendy's words and hastily quickened her pace, knocking over a number of plant pots in her escape. Wendy paused in dismay.

"Why won't they help us?"Carla questioned. Gajeel had succeeded in driving all the villagers from the area and made his way back to the group.  
"Argh!" he shrieked "We don't have time for this; Natsu could be dead already!" Wendy flinched at his rage and Panther-lily put a hand on Gajeel's shoulder, trying to calm him. Gajeel refused to listen and stalked over to a nearby window, he then punched through the oak shutters and grabbed a small, ginger boy that was hiding beneath the window, watching them. The boy struggled defiantly, twisting like a snake in Gajeel's arms, Gajeel shook the boy and lifted him to his face menacingly.  
"Tell me, where is your doctor?" Gajeel was obviously trying to stay calm, but the boy only stuck his tongue out at the dragon-slayer and looked away, for Gajeel, this was the last straw. He swung the boy around in the air and he hit the ground with a thud, squealing in shock.  
"Tell me." Gajeel growled, his fingernails grew into iron claws and scales emerged on his face. The boy screamed a high-pitched scream like he was being attacked by a monster.

"Gajeel! Gajeel stop! You are hurting him!"Wendy wailed, Panther-lily transformed and attempted to pull Gajeel off the boy, but to no avail, the fury in Gajeel's eyes bore into the very soul of the boy, he was petrified; unable to move or speak. He just stared into the Dragon-slayers blood red eyes and froze as he was shaken around violently.  
"Gajeel! Stop! This isn't helping! Gajeel!"Wendy became more desperate. "Doing this won't save Natsu!"She shrieked. Gajeel froze, what was he doing? She was right, how could doing this to the boy help Natsu in any way? It would just make him even more reluctant to help them, he dropped the boy and staggered backwards, as his back touched the wall behind him he slid down into a crouching position and stared at the floor.

This whole situation just pushed Gajeel to the edge, no one, no matter how despicable, had attacked one of his friends from behind while they were tending to someone else's safety before. He had never seen Natsu in that helpless state, not once had he been so unable to protect anyone, and now the attackers had disappeared without a trace, and Gajeel had no idea why they targeted Natsu in the first place. Was it because he was the only one that managed to sense and stop the arrow? Were they just targeting the one that was immune to surprise attacks? Are they going to pick off all of his friends one by one in the same way?And him, too? All these questions surged through Gajeel's head, the shock of losing Natsu would be too great, the guild would never recover, and here he was worrying about his own safety.

A second later a furry fist came into contact with Gajeel's face; Gajeel felt the wall crumble behind him as his head collided with the bricks.  
"Pull yourself together!"Panther-lily commanded, his fists were balled up and a look of irritation was planted firmly into his feline features. The world came to a halt, Gajeel cleared his throat and stood up, he looked over at Wendy and saw that she was talking to the boy calmly, who was still staring at Gajeel with distress.

Gajeel then turned back to Lily, who was looking at him strenuously, his furry eyebrows curving in with a frown. Gajeel inhaled; making himself look bigger, and returned Lily's glare.  
"What?" He snapped, Lily looked at him sternly, a look that could force a lion to the ground. Gajeel shrunk back and looked away, pursing his lips  
"Sorry."He mumbled, Lily cocked an eyebrow and Gajeel huffed, his dragon-slayer side would not allow him to apologise to a cat.  
"I am sorry for freaking out." He reported to a nearby tree."Look, we don't have time for this, we have to find a doctor immediately, we might already be too late." Lily nodded at this and they simultaneously glanced over at Carla and Wendy, who didn't seem to be getting anywhere with the boy.  
"What is your name?" Gajeel heard Wendy ask, the boy answered reluctantly.  
"Yukine" Wendy looked relieved at his response, at least he was talking.  
"Can you tell us where the doctor is?" Wendy asked. Yukine looked at her suspiciously.  
"Why should I tell you?"He said "You guys are just monsters who have come to steal all of our valuables." This was why Gajeel hated kids, Wendy aside; they were all dishonest, stupid, immature little brats that had nothing better to do than make other people's lives harder. Gajeel exhaled, he needed to relax, and let Wendy handle the boy.


	3. Chapter 3

Fairy Curse  
Chapter three- Defiant youths and Respected Brothers  
Wendy:

Wendy felt horrible, and this kid that they were trying to get to tell them where the doctor is was just making it worse, just because she was young didn't mean that she was good with kids.  
It was her fault that Natsu got attacked from behind, if she had heard the arrow coming and moved out of the way herself then he wouldn't have been so distracted with her safety, he could have at least noticed the man standing behind him.  
No, she had to remain calm, blowing a fuse like Gajeel did would not help the situation.  
"Yukine, I promise we are not here for anything other than to find a doctor, please tell us where they are." Wendy said calmly, trying not to sound too forceful. The boy snuffed. "I can't trust you!" He yelled. "Maybe you're after all our medicine."  
Wendy sighed.  
"No, we are not after any more medicine than we need." Yukine crossed his arms.  
"Hmph, I will not be responsible for the village dying of disease because I told some thieves where to find the doctor." Wendy's fists clenched, she couldn't take this anymore, right this second, someone she respected as a brother, someone who had saved her life countless times was dying after being shot in the back when he was too distracted with her to notice the man behind him, and now she was stuck here because a stupid, ignorant little runt refused to tell them where the doctor was.  
"Please. Tell us." She growled lowly, the wind started to pick up around her and the boy shrunk backwards.  
He then seemed to realise that what Wendy was doing wasn't going to hurt him, and he stood up, sticking his nose in the air defiantly."  
No, I refuse t-"  
"Just help us!" Wendy pleaded, tears streaming down her face, Gajeel moved forward towards her but lily stopped him and gave him a give-her-a-chance look. "Please! My friend is dying, we need a doctor! I can't let him die because of me! Just tell us where they are, please! And then we'll leave you alone." Yukine hesitated, clearly thinking about Wendy's' words.  
"What happened to your friend?" Wendy looked at the floor and sniffed, Carla touched her hand.  
"It's okay, Carla." Wendy cleared her throat and took a big breath.

"It was my fault; if I had seen the arrow...If I had seen it then this wouldn't be happening right now. But I didn't so he had to save me. And then he got shot in the back, and I don't have that level of magic to heal him."She paused, and wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand. "So please, all I am asking is that you just tell us where the doctor is, we don't have time for this." Yukine looked at her, contemplating, and then he looked towards a house on top of a nearby hill.  
"There."He pointed and then added slowly."I will take you." He then took off towards the hill and didn't look behind him to see if they were following, Wendy glanced at Gajeel before scrambling after him, Carla in close pursuit.  
"Shall we?"Lily asked Gajeel. Gajeel looked around cautiously before following Yukine, Wendy and Carla up the hill.

The house that Yukine had brought them to was old and run-down and Wendy became suspicious of Yukine's intentions. Just as she was about to ask him if he was pulling their legs, Wendy heard a loud crash coming from inside, and then the sound of something metal rolling on the ground, and sure enough, a pan the size of a bathtub came rolling out of the open door, Gajeel said nothing but raised his eyebrows at Yukine. Yukine gave him a dismissive eye roll before knocking on the wooden door frame, causing dust to fall to the floor like a fountain.  
"Yes?!" A gruff voice echoed. Gajeel, Wendy, Carla and Lily all gave each other questioning looks before they followed Yukine, who had already disappeared inside.  
"Hello! Doctor Wooding? These people here say that they have a severely injured friend that needs your attention!" Sounds of wood scraping stone and footsteps were followed by a huge man with glasses and a beard, he wore a brown apron and his huge muscles were patterned with tattoos of trees. He was at least a head taller than Gajeel, and he looked down upon them from the doorway.  
"Where did you say this friend was?!" The man pushed past them and out of the door, hastily walking down his pathway. Yukine looked at Wendy expectantly and she hurried after the Doctor.  
"Um, mister...Doctor, last time I saw him he was just outside of the village, over there by that big tree." The man hastily changed direction and started speed walking in the direction that Wendy had pointed.  
"The last time you saw him? He can't be in that bad of a condition if he can walk around." Doctor Wooding said as he made his way up the hill that the group had come from.  
"Oh, no, my other friends are with him, sir."Just then the specks that were Erza, Gray, Lucy, Happy and Natsu came into view, which were all in exactly the same position they were in before they left.

Erza looked up as they came closer, tilting her head up to look at the huge man before her. The man's eyes widened when he saw Natsu sprawled out on the floor, a pool of blood collecting underneath him and an arrow piercing straight through his chest.  
"Well, I say! What on earth did you do to the poor boy?!" He huffed, as he knelt down next to Natsu and grabbed his wrist to check his pulse.  
"It wasn't us."Lucy mumbled weakly as she moved out of the doctor's way reluctantly, Carla, who had just arrived with Gajeel, Lily and Yukine, placed her paw on Lucy's shoulder.  
"No, it seems not."He said as he ripped Natsu's Shirt down the middle, completely revealing the tip of the arrow, and the black lines that were spiraling their way up Natsu's chest. "This here,is the work of very Dark magic." Doctor Wooding finished sadly. Wendy gasped as she recognized the thin black lines.  
"Lunar Ivy!"She yelped.

Everyone except the Doctor gave her confused looks.  
"Lunar Ivy is a poison that is activated by incredibly powerful dark magic, and you need a very special bow to use it, I will explain more when we get back to my house, judging by your young friend here's condition, he hasn't got very long before he dies of blood loss." The Doctor scooped Natsu up in his huge arms with a grunt, leaving a huge pool of blood staining the bricks beneath him, the doctor was right, Natsu looked incredibly pale, his breathing was incredibly labored, and blood was dripping from the hole in his chest.

The doctor started walking back down the hill with a limp Natsu in his arms, the rest of the group walked hastily next to him, none of them wanted to let Natsu out of their sight, even for a second. Wendy held Natsu's hand and focused all her magical power into a pain-relief spell. Please don't die, Natsu, the guild would never be the same without you, she begged silently, but even Wendy's limited knowledge of the evil that was Lunar Ivy told her that the chances that Natsu would ever be the same again were unbelievably slim.


	4. Chapter 4

Fairy Curse  
Chapter four-Child,Brother,friend  
Erza:

Erza couldn't stand it any longer, watching Natsu in so much pain was killing her, and she felt like her insides were crumbling.  
She watched Natsu's face as he was being carried by the huge man that she presumed was a doctor, most people look peaceful when they are unconscious, but Natsu's face was twisted in pain, blood dripped from his mouth and the nasty gash that he had gained when his head collided with the bricks. That moment replayed in Erza's mind countless times, the moment when someone she held very dear to her, like a child, collapsed onto the floor with an arrow impaling his chest, she thought he was dead then.  
She had never felt so lost, not even when she was a child, the thought that she had done nothing to stop the hooded man from murdering Natsu chilled her to the bone. And then everything seemed like a blur, she remembered kneeling near him, unsure of what to do with herself, Lucy shrieking, Gray dropping to his knees next to her. And then she remembered hearing Wendy's voice, 'He's still alive' those words brought her back to life, like the sudden beep of a heart monitor when all was lost. Then she placed Natsu's head on her lap like he was a china ornament, like the tiniest movement would cause him a world of pain. Maybe it did, but she was desperate to feel Natsu's presence, to listen to his breathing. He really was her child, her brother, her friend. But every pained breath that Natsu took cracked her heart like a mirror.

And now, as his arms drooped limply over the sides of a strangers hold, she felt like the world was going too fast, her heart beat thumped in her chest, she put a hand to the place where the arrow had impaled Natsu and cringed, she could see the tiny, thin black lines that were making their way up his neck like spider webs. 'Lunar Ivy', the name itself was foreboding, but what was it that was so bad about it that even this huge, monster of a man was shaken-up?

Erza looked over at Wendy, who was concentrating on some kind of spell, sweat beads collected on her forehead and she breathed heavily. Gray, Lucy and Happy were sticking close, their heads drooped, but all of them were staring at Natsu, they couldn't bear to look away for even a second.  
Gajeel, panther-lily, Carla and the small, ginger boy that had appeared were walking behind them, all of them looking ahead in anxiety, even the boy, who looked incredibly disturbed, he probably hadn't seen someone that had been impaled by an arrow before, or maybe it was the blood, he did look very pale. Erza's gaze returned to Natsu as they reached what seemed to be the man's house. The door swung open and the windows were cracked, someone needed to do some D.I.Y, but at least the house was large, it must be used as the village's hospital, Erza thought as the large man ducked through the wooden door frame.

As they passed what must have been the kitchen they entered a large ward-room, seven beds lined the wall, and all the sheets were white, magic-operated heart monitors and cabinets full of medicine were next to each of the beds.  
"Three of you can come in, the rest stay in here." The man said as he opened a door at the end of the room. "No ...cats." he added, Happy hissed dejectedly and landed on the nearest bed to the door, he didn't have the energy to object.

Erza, Gray and Lucy followed the doctor into the room at the end, which turned out to be some kind of surgical theater. There was a surgical table in the middle and two chairs at the edge of the room, as well as numerous glass cabinets filled with medicine and injection needles, it was like they had stepped inside a different building, not the crumbled down old house outside, Erza guessed that it was to deter thieves, the people of this village must really treasure their hospital.

Lucy steadied herself into one of the chairs, she was shaking as she put her head in her hands, Erza sat next to her and watched as the doctor placed Natsu on his stomach so he wasn't resting on the arrow.  
The doctor motioned to Grey to hold Natsu down while he grabbed the feathers of the arrow, Grey looked helplessly un-comfortable as he held Natsu's shoulders, he didn't want to see Natsu in pain any more than Erza did, he was like a brother to Grey, maybe even more. But it was too late to back down as the doctor started to yank on the arrow, Natsu's eyes shot open and he grabbed the nearest thing to him, which, unfortunately for Grey, happened to be the arm that was holding him down.

Erza looked away and saw Lucy squeeze her eyes shut, and then she heard a pained, weak yell from Natsu. Erza looked back and saw the doctor using some kind of magic to seal Natsu's wounds, Grey still clutched a now unconscious Natsu like he was his lifeline, Natsu's arm dropped and revealed claw marks on Grey's bare arm, somewhere along the way he had lost his shirt, and now had a line of blood travelling up his naked chest from when the doctor pulled out the arrow. Erza heard Lucy let out a breath beside her, and Grey slumped backwards down the wall behind him so he became level with Natsu's face.  
The doctor sighed with concern as he examined the black lines that were also travelling up Natsu's back; he then stitched the rest of Natsu's cuts and wrapped a bandage around his chest and head. Natsu looked okay, but the doctor still looked dissatisfied, he sighed again and furrowed his brows in distress.

After a while, he got up and reached for a large bottle of blue liquid inside one of the glass cabinets, and then started analyzing the Golden arrow. The arrow was chipped at the edge; some of the fragments must have still been inside of Natsu, blood coated the shaft and the white feathers at the end. Swirling patterns ran along the edges and the tip was made from some form of crystal. The doctor reached for some cotton buds and dipped them into the contents of the bottle; he then brushed off the edges of the arrow tip carefully.

Erza watched the doctor carefully for a while, studying him every time he went near Natsu, she looked around at Lucy , who was now asleep on the chair, and Grey , who was slumped over by the wall, his face inches from Natsu's. It had been a long day, and all of them had been through a lot, maybe just this once, she could trust the large tree doctor. She glanced at Natsu's unconscious face once more before she shut her eyes and rested her head against the wall behind her, for the first time since he had been attacked, he looked peaceful. But even as Erza drifted to sleep, the doctors concern over the black lines haunted her, and she had a terrible nightmare where Natsu was taken over by evil.


	5. Chapter 5

Fairy Curse  
Chapter five- Irrational fears and veiled feelings  
Lucy:

Lucy awoke first, Grey and Erza were still fast asleep, but she couldn't sleep, the trauma of almost losing Natsu terrified her.  
She looked over at him now, a huge bandage wrapped around his chest, Gray sleeping next to him with their faces inches apart; Natsu would freak out if he woke up. Lucy smiled to herself, but then her face fell, what if he didn't wake up? What if the poison that was slowly inching its way up his back killed him? Natsu looked pale, his arm drooped off of the side of the surgical table, Lucy's heart jumped inside her chest and she dragged her chair over beside him. She reached for his other arm that was closest to her and checked his pulse; his heart beat was slow, but clear. Lucy visibly relaxed; she shouldn't be so worked up over this, scaring herself would not help.

Lucy cringed as she remembered her reaction earlier, when she yelled at an already terrified Wendy, and clung onto Natsu for dear life, probably causing him more pain. But when she saw the arrow that had impaled him, when the stream of blood collected at his feet and he collapsed onto the floor, when that happened, Lucy lost it, her world came crashing down around her, she had never realized how strong the feelings she held for Natsu were.

But when the threat of losing him came to surface, she couldn't contain herself. She didn't want to lose him; she wouldn't let him leave her, even if it was selfish, because Natsu was everything to her, more than family, more than friends. Lucy didn't want to hurt him, but she needed to hear his heartbeat, she needed to be sure he was okay, so she rested her head on his shoulder, careful to mind his chest, and closed her eyes, listening to the slow, steady rhythm of Natsu's weak heart.  
Lucy woke to Natsu coughing violently; Grey was supporting his shoulders as blood splattered the wall. The Doctor was fiddling around with some syringes and bottles of medicine; he frantically searched through them, trying to find what he was looking for.

As he fumbled through them, a large glass bottle with clear liquid tipped over and started rolling towards the edge, Erza caught it before it smashed onto the tiles below, causing the doctor to look up, as he saw the bottle in Erza's hand, he gave a satisfied huff of gratitude before taking it from her and sticking a huge syringe inside and drawing up the liquid.

This was where they had a problem, as Natsu was increasingly scared of needles. As the doctor reached for him, he turned in-between coughs and saw it, and he then shrunk away from it, almost like cat to a dog. But Erza was having none of it; she grabbed Natsu's hair at the top of his head and twisted, causing him to bend backwards, not so much in pain but the shear strength of Erza's pull. She then gave Grey a narrowed look and he quickly grabbed Natsu's shoulders, completely pinning him to the table. Natsu looked at the nearing syringe like it was a knife, but he didn't have the energy to fight back.  
Lucy cringed when the doctor pretty much stabbed him with the needle and pushed on the end, she felt sorry for him, but if this would stop Natsu's coughing then so be it.

Natsu flopped onto the table, defeated, exhausted and on the brink of unconsciousness. Erza let go, and Natsu's head collided with the table, causing Grey to flinch, he was still holding Natsu down, but after he realized that he wasn't going to move anymore he stepped backwards.

The doctor peeled back Natsu's bandages and examined the lines travelling up his back, but now they weren't just lines, they were almost like tattoos, they created swirling patterns all over the back of his torso. The doctor frowned deeply at this, and Erza, Grey and Lucy exchanged worried looks.  
"Help me get him into the other room." He said. "I have to talk to all of you about his condition."The doctor seemed deeply distressed, and Lucy started to get nervous, what is it? Is this poison actually going to kill him? Lucy felt her heartbeat pick up and she had to grab onto Erza to stop herself from falling over as she got up.

Erza seemed just as concerned, and she didn't react to Lucy's touch. Grey opened the door for the doctor as he scooped Natsu up and carried him into the other room, everyone was still waiting inside, and she felt guilty about leaving them. Lucy looked around for Happy and saw that he was curled up inside of Natsu's scarf; he must have picked it up a while ago when they came over here.  
The doctor placed Natsu into one of the beds and started fiddling around with the machines around it, everyone left him to it as they formed a circle around the bed, waiting for the doctor's verdict, even Happy, who had woken up when they came in, sat on Lucy's shoulder, she felt glad of his presence, and she cuddled him to her chest, for once, he didn't make any jokey comments and stayed there, sniffing sadly.

When the doctor had finished sorting out Natsu he sat at the edge of his bed, and looked at all of them slowly. Gajeel was standing by the door, he looked uncomfortably concerned for his friend, and Lily was on his shoulder, staring down at Natsu with a frown. Wendy and Carla sat on the bed by the door, both of them looking intently at the doctor, hoping that it wasn't as bad as Wendy had thought it to be. Gray, Erza and Lucy, with happy in her lap, were sat on the bed directly next to Natsu's, even the boy, Yukine, was looking at the doctor, but he was soon told to wait outside, which he did so with a huff.  
"You got the arrow out, right?"Gajeel, unsurprisingly, was the first to break the tension. The doctor nodded and thought for a moment.  
"I'm afraid that your friend has been poisoned by Lunar Ivy, evil stuff, it is something, which if left untreated in the first few minutes of its appearance, completely takes over its host, causing very severe pain and in most cases ending in death. But, it seems to me, having looked at the arrow, the people that targeted your friend were trying to perform a curse using dark magic, when this happens, the host is taken over by their own inner-demon, it is very rare for anyone to have an inner-demon, so in most cases, the curse fails and the host dies a very painful death." The doctor paused, taking in all of their distraught, skeptical faces.  
"But, if in the case that the host does in fact have an inner-demon, they become the most evil, most powerful monsters to have ever lived, depending on their power as humans, their demon-side can have the power to destroy cities."The doctor looked around sadly, is eyes resting on all of them before moving to the floor. Everyone looked at him in silence, looks of incredulity on their faces.  
"But, did we help Natsu...In time?"Panther-lily asked the question that everyone was thinking. The doctor looked at him gravely.  
"No, I am afraid we did not".


	6. Chapter 6

Fairy Curse  
Chapter Six- Relaxing scents and inner-demons  
Happy:

"W-what?"Happy said quietly, although Lucy's arms were clutched around him, he felt like he was falling, like there was no floor beneath him.  
"I'm afraid that those lines that are travelling up Natsu's back are only going to get bigger, and they are going to take over his body, unfortunately, if he doesn't die, he will become an evil, more powerful version of himself. I would say that a dragon-slayer would become the most destructive demon that the Lunar Ivy could make." Happy squeezed Natsu's scarf, He could hear Lucy's heavy breathing behind him; her heart was beating so fast that he couldn't distinguish one beat from another. Erza and Grey looked just as shocked, as well as Carla, Lily and Gajeel, who just stood there in silence.

"But, there's a cure, right? There is a cure, there has to be a cure."Wendy yelped, her hands clutched the mattress beneath her so hard that her knuckles were turning white. The doctor looked at her sympathetically.  
"I am afraid that I am not aware of one." Lucy let out a muffled sob.  
"However," The doctor said, giving her a concerned look. "My knowledge on this subject is limited, there may still be a chance to save the boy, but it is only a matter of days before the Lunar Ivy takes over, his condition will deteriorate, and if he does not have an inner-demon, then he will die." Erza stood up abruptly, the doctor looked at her as she walked up and down the room.  
"Well then, we only have one choice, we have to get him back to the guild and let Porlyusica take care of him. We can't give up, not yet; I am not going to let him die." The determination in Erza's face lifted the spirits of all the people in the room, everyone stood up too, and Happy jumped onto Gray's shoulder, who gave him a sideways look, questioning his choice of transport.

But the moment of hope was short-lived as the doctor stopped them in their tracks.  
"Whoa, where do you think you are going? You are not taking this boy anywhere until I have deemed him fit to travel." The doctor glared at them so fiercely that even Erza sat down hastily.  
"You can all stay here for tonight, there are enough beds for all of you, and I am sure that these...Talking felines can share one."The doctor stood up and made his way over to the door that led back into the kitchen area. "Make yourselves at home. But come and get me if Natsu's condition changes." The doctor left the room and shut the door behind him.

Everyone stayed where they were for a minute, the chaos that had taken place during the day was finally catching up with them, and Happy let out a huge yawn, he picked up Natsu's scarf and went over to sit by him, the large machine next to him beeped slowly, small lines spasmed on the screen. He created a small bed out of the scarf next to Natsu's head on the pillow and settled down into it. Everyone else started to get up and sit on one of their own beds, Gajeel stayed next to the door of the room that the doctor had disappeared into with Natsu, Wendy across from him underneath a large window, Gray next to her, Lucy on the bed next to Natsu and Erza on the opposite side.

Happy heard Carla and Panther-lily have an argument over the final bed, Carla argued that since she was female, she should have the bed to herself, but then Lily retorted that she couldn't possibly expect him to share a bed with Gajeel, as Gajeel was way too big for them both to fit, this received a shout of disagreement from across the room. The argument ended when Wendy offered to let Lily sleep in her bed, to which Carla responded with great anger, saying that a girl of her age should never share a bed with a male, even if he was a cat, and in the end Carla ended up sharing with Wendy and Lily had the bed to himself.

Happy snuggled up to the side of Natsu's head and listened to his breathing, he felt relieved, but what the doctor said about the lunar ivy poison made him worried, could Natsu actually die from this? Or does he have this evil side that the doctor spoke of? And what kind of demon would he become? Happy became lost in his thoughts as he listened to the beeps coming from the machine next to him, and he slowly drifted off to sleep inside of Natsu's scarf.

The next morning, Happy woke to the Erza tapping him lightly.  
"We are leaving now Happy; we have to get Natsu back to the guild." Happy stretched and yawned, he thought about the fish they would be having right now if Natsu hadn't gotten shot. Grey picked Natsu up Bridal-style, Natsu breathed into his shoulder, causing Grey to flinch because of the heat.  
"He's burning up." The doctor said, as he placed a hand on Natsu's forehead. "Take these with you for when his condition gets serious." The doctor gave Erza a box of syringes with clear liquid. Everyone gave each other amused looks as they thought about how Natsu would react.

Happy flew, while clutching Natsu's scarf, to sit on Grey's shoulder on the opposite side to where Natsu's head rested, Gajeel, Wendy, Carla and Panther-lily went to say goodbye to the small boy that had come with them earlier. Lucy went to check out the magic-powered car that they were going to borrow from the doctor, another thing that Natsu would not appreciate.

Erza thanked the doctor and left through the front door, and then the doctor checked Natsu's pulse, while examining the intricate black spirals climbing his neck. It was then that Happy noticed Natsu's lack of clothing, save the huge bandage around his chest, he was wearing nothing but his trousers, not even shoes, he wasn't exactly sure when he had lost them, but compared to everything else that had happened, the loss of Natsu's shoes wasn't something they were going to spend time pondering over.  
"What's happening to him?" Grey questioned, while blowing a strand of salmon-pink hair from his face, unlike the doctor, who Natsu looked like a kid in contrast to, Grey found that it was harder to carry Natsu, and Natsu's rosy hair was brushing in his face. The doctor looked frustrated.  
" I am afraid that I do not know, even I, who has studied Dark magic for some time, cannot comprehend the severity of the curse, it is something I have only heard of in legends, but I have heard it enough to recognise its work. But that is the limit of my knowledge, I cannot tell whether or not your friend is dying, or if this evil that Lunar ivy is known create is taking hold, and I sincerely apologise for my ignorance." The doctor looked to the floor, his glasses slipped to the edge of his nose, and Grey looked surprised.  
"But sir, you have been more help to us than anyone could have been, you have saved his life, it does not matter how long you have postponed his death as long as we have the chance to save him." Happy nodded in agreement to this.  
"Yes, thank you, Mr. Doctor, for saving Natsu's life." The doctor looked happier, but said nothing; he still seemed stressed about his limited knowledge on the subject. As they were saying this, Natsu inhaled deeply, a contented breath, right into Grey's hair, as if he was sucking up Grey's scent, this caused them all to laugh and Happy shook away the thought that Natsu could ever be anything other than himself, how could someone so appeased be evil?


	7. Chapter 7

Fairy Curse  
Chapter seven - the definition of 'Okay'  
gray:

Grey couldn't let the Doctors words out of his head, surely Natsu couldn't be evil?  
Sure, the guy blew a fuse now and again, but he would never hurt an innocent person, or one of his friends for that matter, what was all this about dragon-slayers being the worst monsters the lunar ivy curse could create? There was no doubt that they were powerful, but could this curse really enhance their power so greatly that they could become the most destructive beings imaginable?

Grey didn't sleep a wink that night, he lay there thinking of all the things that Natsu as he is could do, if he had bad intentions he could certainly destroy a city. He listened to the beeping of the heart monitor, slow and steady, just like the breaths Natsu was taking.

He listened intently to the tone of each beep, like at any second the line would go flat and Natsu would die, he couldn't imagine life without him, he didn't want to, but as the night wore on he couldn't help but let his thoughts wonder to the possibility of Natsu's demise.

What would he do without him? Well, for a start, he wouldn't fight as much; he would probably spend most of his time with Juvia, not necessarily by will though. But that was when the unwanted thought popped into his head, what if Natsu had never arrived at the guild?

Well, he'd be dead, that was indisputable, he would have died long ago on Galuna Island, and he probably would have died just like his master, Ur, who had given her life to stop Deliora. He would never have made peace with Lyon, he would never have met Juvia, and although she was bothersome sometimes, the thought of being without her was upsetting. There were countless other times were Natsu had saved him, some directly, like when he had stopped him from refreezing Deliora, some indirectly, like when he had stopped Phantom lord from blowing the Fairy tail guild and everyone in it sky high. They were part of a team, a team that could not function without even one of its members. These thoughts had consumed Grey, and before he knew it, the light of dawn peeked through the window, the thoughts drained out of his head as he watched his friends wake, surely nothing could happen if he had his friends here with him, right?

Grey had almost forgotten the negative thoughts he had experienced the previous night, and when he felt the heat of Natsu's breath on his shoulder and his pink hair brushing his face he rejected the whole idea that Natsu could ever be anything other than Natsu, the boisterous, flame brain that he had fights with now and again.  
Then Natsu had attempted to inhale half of Grey's head, which was when the fear of Natsu becoming evil vaporised, it just wasn't possible, Natsu could never betray his friends, they were family.

Just what would an evil Natsu look like anyway? His current appearance wasn't exactly threatening, not with the salmon pink fluffy hair and the puffy scarf. Grey was lost in thought as he wondered over to the magic powered car, as everyone said goodbye to the doctor, he was trying to imagine a scary looking Natsu, sure he could look pissed and he definitely intimidates people when he is pissed, but not in the evil way, in the I-am-going-to-kick-your-ass kind of way.

Gray hauled himself into the car with Natsu in his arms, it was a very large van looking thing, almost like a carriage, with no seats, just wooden planks across the walls, there were no windows, just curtains that could be pulled along the gap, it was the typical model of a magic car that they had been in many times before.  
Wendy was the first to join him; she came and sat across from Natsu, who was leant against the front wall of the car. She looked exhausted, everyone did; this was something that they none of them had never even imagined happening, no one ever really imagined anything happening to Natsu, it was always someone else's problems that they dealt with, whether it was Lucy's family issues, or Erza's past creeping back up, or even Rogue's future coming to haunt them, it was always Natsu who just helped. But now it was Natsu that needed the help, and Grey was determined to do everything in his power to save his friend, even if it meant travelling to the other end of the world and back.

Once everyone had piled in, the car set off, it seemed to know exactly where we were going, Grey didn't bother asking how, magic was something he had learned to have no limits.  
Natsu's head lay across Erza's legs, like most journeys, but this time he wasn't groaning about motion sickness, he just lay there, with a pained expression and laboured breathing, Grey would have given anything to just hear the groans , anything would be better than silence. Happy was still clutching Natsu's scarf, but no one tried to take it off of him, they understood what he was going through, the person he depended on like an older brother was fighting a silent battle, a battle for his life, and he could do nothing to help him, this was a helpless feeling that they all had to endure.

The rocking motion of the car made Gray feel sick, but it wasn't motion sickness, that was something he was most likely never to experience, and due to Natsu's complaining, he didn't want to experience, this sickness was more because of the silence, the fact that he could not do anything as one of his comrades fought the biggest battle of his life.

Gray wasn't even sure if it was something you could fight against, maybe you just had an inner-demon, and became evil, or you didn't, and you died, maybe the death part was inevitable, but maybe it could be overcome, like a disease. The doctor had made it clear that he had limited knowledge on the curse, so maybe anything could happen, but whatever it is, Grey knew that he would feel better if it happened back at the guild, he knew he could depend on his comrades to find a way to save Natsu.

Everyone sat in silence, the only sound was the wheels of the car crashing with the occasional rock or branch, Wendy had managed to fall asleep, her head rested on the side of the car, she had tried her best to relieve Natsu of the pain he was suffering, but even her magic could not seem to aid his internal battle. Happy was on the verge of sleep, he still held Natsu's scarf, like any moment it would be yanked from his hands.  
Gajeel and Panther-lily stared at the floor, Carla and Lucy were both looking outwards towards the hills that were rolling past. Erza was looking down at Natsu's head on her lap; she stroked the hair out of his face, beads of sweat gathered on his forehead from the pain, and she wiped them with a cloth, but unlike most of their journeys, she was not looking down at him with an affectionate grin, she was looking at him with an almost pained expression, she was on the verge of tears, Grey could see the water rimming her eyelids.

He looked away, he knew that she wouldn't thank him if he asked if she was okay, that was a stupid question, something asked if you are not sure what else to do, like a question that didn't really need to be answered, but in most cases was anyway, it was mostly answered with a yes, not be because the person asked really was okay, but because they didn't want the attention they would receive if they said otherwise. But Grey knew that even if she admitted that she wasn't okay, there was nothing that he could do for her, telling her that it would be okay would be pointless, he didn't know that, and it most likely wasn't going to be okay, everyone wasn't feeling 'okay' right now, not that the definition of 'okay' is ever used to describe a person's feelings, what feeling would be 'okay'? Happy? Content? But surely if you were happy or even just content you would say so, okay is used when you don't know what else to say. Grey was beginning to despise the word, he was losing his mind, with only himself to talk to, the fact that he was thinking about the word 'okay' surely meant that he wasn't, and one thing Grey knew, he was never going to use the word 'okay' ever again.


	8. Chapter 8

Fairy Curse  
Chapter eight- Future struggles and Inevitable insanity  
Carla:  
Carla didn't know what to think about this whole situation, she did care for Natsu, but not in that way that everyone else did, like Happy, who was desperately clinging to Natsu's scarf like it was his own heart; something he had to protect with his life, or Lucy, who didn't seem able to form proper sentences due to worry.

Carla looked to Wendy, she was worried about her more than anyone else, as she had told Carla that she thought it was her fault that Natsu got shot by the arrow, of course, Carla immediately told her otherwise, but she did not seem convinced. Wendy was asleep, her thick blue hair formed a pillow beneath her head, which rested on the wall of the car, strangely; Wendy did not seem to be affected by the motion of the car, unlike Gajeel, who was already looking a bit under the weather even after Wendy placed Troia on him to cure him of his motion sickness.

Natsu seemed to be in a lot of pain, but whether that was from the motion sickness or the poison she did not know, this whole thing had been quite horrible for Natsu, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Carla didn't know what anyone would do without him, what would Fairy Tail be without their famous Salamander?  
A foreboding image flashed in Carla's mind, and her heart leapt in her chest; she still wasn't used to them, but this image was especially terrible, all the members of Fairy Tail surrounded a large sculptor of a fire breathing Dragon, they laid flowers in front of it and many of them were crying. It wasn't until Carla saw Lucy weeping before it that she realized what it was, it was Natsu's grave.

Carla made a yelp of horror, and turned to look at Natsu, he was still alive, Erza looked down at him as he struggled to breathe, each breath sounded like it caused him a world of pain. Erza, and everyone else looked to Carla in shock, they all knew when she had a prediction. Wendy lifted her head from the side and stared at Carla, wide eyed.  
"What is it? What did you see Carla, please tell me you didn't..."Wendy didn't finish her sentence, tears threatened to run over the side of her eyelids and she blinked, each drop ran down her reddened cheek and left a trail of silver, she wiped them with the back of her hands. Carla looked to the floor, she didn't want to tell them what she saw, but her response to Wendy's question gave it away. Lucy started crying, her shoulders shook and tears streamed down her face, Carla could tell that she was trying to keep it in, but Natsu was inconceivably important to her, and she couldn't bear the thought of losing him.

Gray frowned, like he was trying to stop himself from losing his sanity, his fists clenched, causing them to turn white, his nails dug into his palms and a meager trail of blood ran down his wrist. Carla looked at him cautiously, she didn't know what would happen when Natsu died, but she was starting to get an idea; the Fairy Tail guild wouldn't be a place where other people would like to hang out. Who was going to be the first to lose it? Gajeel maybe? He was looking at Natsu intently, like if he just as much blinked then Natsu would slip away. Happy? He was rocking back and forth with his eyes squeezed shut and the scarf was wrapped around him like a towel. Maybe Carla would be first, the guilt was consuming her, if she had just looked somewhere else when she had the vision, maybe she could have persuaded them otherwise.

Erza was the only one who looked collected, but maybe she was just concealing it all, maybe she would wait until she was alone before breaking down. But Erza didn't lose it, she just placed a hand on Natsu's neck; feeling his pulse, and then she closed her eyes and stroked his cheek with the other hand; a second later she opened them and gave a satisfied huff.  
"Stop over reacting."She said sternly, everyone stopped to look at her. "Natsu is still alive, and he will be as long as I am here, do you really think that I am going to let him die? Not before he cleans the whole guild as compensation for all this trouble." Happy stopped rocking back and forth and opened his eyes, and Lucy looked at Erza, she had stopped shaking, but tears were still making a steady course down the side of her face.  
"She's right." Carla said, she had to do something to stop them from breaking down; she couldn't just watch her friends lose it because of her.  
"Who is to say that my vision was correct anyway? It has been wrong in the past, right?" Carla heard a few mumbles of agreement.

Lucy and Wendy had both stopped crying, they wiped their tears with the back of their sleeves and sat up straighter, like if they showed some determination then Natsu would be okay. Carla knew that Erza had said that to convince herself, not just her teammates; no one could know what was going to happen to Natsu, that's why they needed to get back to the guild as quickly as possible. Almost to confirm what Carla and Erza had both said, Natsu gave a sharp intake of breath, which caused the hair on his head to ruffle against Erza's legs. Everyone gave a little laugh and broke into conversation about all the things that they would make Natsu do to compensate for all the worry that he was putting them through, they all knew that there was a great chance that Natsu would never even be able to hear the tasks that they were setting for him, but each and every one of them were determined to do everything they could to get him back to the guild alive.

As Carla watched each of them talk of all their memories of Natsu, she began to think back on her vision, what was it that seemed so wrong? Natsu not being there, of course, but there was something else that made the vision seem even darker than the sheer fact that Natsu was dead. And then it hit her, there were too many people at the funeral, everyone at the guild, plus maybe a few of the friends that they had made on missions and members of other guilds, but there was one evil presence that drew in Carla's attention; it was the dark shadow of a man in the corner, but what was most unnerving about him was, he was staring at her.


	9. Chapter 9

Fairy Curse  
Chapter nine-Increasing concern and unwavering loyalty  
Erza:

Erza wasn't sure if she could take it any longer; she was breaking down inside. Watching Natsu caused a pain deep inside her, like the pieces that had already been broken were being stepped on.  
Carla's little premonition just made things worse, she had to watch all her friends slowly lose it next to her, Gray had been clenching his fists so hard that blood had started running down his wrists. She didn't know how everyone had just been able to assume what Carla had seen, but it was all on their minds, and the fact that she had looked to the floor after Wendy had asked had confirmed their suspicions. Erza would have asked her exactly what she saw, maybe they could decipher exactly what it meant, but the horrified look on her face told her that she didn't want to know.

As the rest of them started sharing their memories of Natsu she realized that they didn't really talk about him much, she learned things about him then that she never thought she would, like how Lucy had found him hanging out of her window asleep once when she had come home from a job, or when Panther-lily had made him jump when he had walked up from behind him.

But what she was especially surprised at was the fact that he was actually quite good friends with Gajeel, maybe it was the fact that Natsu had beaten Gajeel to a pulp when they had fought Phantom lord that deterred the thought of them ever being friends, but now that she thought about it, it was only natural that they be close, being dragon slayers and all.

They had all talked well into the day, until Natsu had a violent burst of coughing and they had to force him to take a syringe of the medicine the doctor had given him, which was easier said than done, Natsu was determined to get away from it, but he ended up keeling over because of his motion sickness and Gray had stabbed him with the needle, earning the most vicious glare from Natsu. The fluid inside the syringe seemed to be a sedative, as Natsu became almost unconscious within seconds of having taken it.

Everyone seemed happier than the last time it had happened, as they were not as worried that it wouldn't work. After the little squabble, Natsu had ended up sprawled out on the floor of the car, and Gray was on top of him, pinning him to the wood, but by the time he realised that he didn't need to be there everyone had already decided to make camp for the night, and they had stopped the was the first to get out, as she was closest to the door, along with Panther-lily and Gajeel. Happy stayed with Natsu as Grey more or less dragged him from the floor and carried him over to a nearby log. Erza, Gajeel and panther-lily unloaded the stuff from Erza's huge trailer full of luggage and started making camp.

Thirty minutes later, they were all sat around a campfire and eating Happy's choice of meal which was, no surprises, fish. Natsu did wake, but he did not want any food, and he just watched them with his eyes half closed, Erza watched him carefully, any sign of a coughing fit and she would be straight there with a needle. Lucy sat next to him, and she kept sending him glances now and again, almost like she was checking if he was really there. Natsu soon noticed this, but he didn't say anything, he only gave her a dismissive hand gesture and rested his head back on the log behind him. Happy was sitting in-between Natsu's legs, his head was rested on his thigh, and he was snoring away like he didn't have a care in the world, Happy was still holding Natsu's scarf; even Natsu knew that there was no way to pry that thing away from him.

Once everyone had finished eating, Erza helped Gajeel unpack all of the blankets. Wendy and Carla decided to sleep in the car, so the other five blankets were spaced out around the campfire. But just as they were about to settle down for the night Erza realized that everyone, save Gajeel and herself, were already fast asleep.  
Lucy's head was on Natsu's shoulder, and she had a content look of peace on her face. Happy was still snoring, but now he was more stretched out, and he was using the scarf for a pillow. Natsu was unconscious, but Erza didn't know if that was because he was sleeping or the poison was taking effect, she hated that, she felt helpless and she wanted to stop it, she wanted to make sure that she knew he was safe, but she couldn't do that, none of them could be sure of his safety as long as those strange black spirals were crawling up his back.

Grey was next to Natsu, his face was inches from Natsu's shoulder. Lily was on the log above him, snoring just as heavily as Happy. Erza yawned, they had all had far more time for sleep than they had needed, but the emotional stress that they were being put through was causing them to be even more tired than they would hope to be.

Erza put her hand inside her bag, and it clasped around something cold, the syringe. She brought it out and stared at it, the small bubbles in the liquid moved around as she tilted it. Could this thing really stop Natsu's violent coughing attacks before he spewed out his insides? The thought of it caused Erza to frown; she could tell every time that he was in pain, who wouldn't be? She couldn't even begin to comprehend the pain that he was going through, and all she could do was cause him more dread by threatening with one of the things he hates most.

Erza's head connected with the blanket she was using for a pillow, and she let out a strangled sigh, when would this nightmare be over? Would Porlyusica really be able to cure him of this loathsome poison? Erza hastily pushed the thought away, nothing would come of her giving up, she would just have to find a way to cure him, she would do anything for Natsu; she would do anything for any member of her precious guild. Erza closed her eyes and wrapped her fingers around the cold glass container; everyone had been given one, but she couldn't rest easy without it, this tiny syringe could save Natsu's life. Erza closed her eyes and tried to think of pleasant things, and her thoughts were drawn back to the time when Natsu had saved her from Jellal at the tower of Heaven, she had almost given up, she was letting the strange substance engulf her, but then Natsu's strong arms had pulled her out, and then she realized, dying for her comrades would not help them, they needed her, just like she needed them.


	10. Chapter 10

Fairy Curse  
Chapter ten-The best of friends are those who understand.  
Gajeel:

Everyone was fast asleep, even Erza was deep in the world of dreams, her hands still clutched around the glass syringe that the doctor had given her. Gajeel took his out of his bag and examined it in his hand, what exactly was in this? Small bubbles lined the edges, each of them reflected the light from the moon above him, Gajeel shook it, and created larger bubbles inside it. He'd seen it work before, but how exactly did it stop Natsu's coughing fit? Was it just a sedative?

Gajeel sighed; he wished he didn't have to worry about this kind of thing. Who the hell where those people? And how did Natsu not notice the guy behind him? What was the evil power he sensed from the Golden bow? These were the kind of questions that were whirling around in Gajeel's head, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't make it stop, he was lost in thought, and he didn't notice Natsu getting up, he didn't notice him leaving until he started coughing, he was covering his mouth, obviously trying not to wake anyone, but it was as loud and violent enough to snap Gajeel out of his daydream.

Natsu leant on a tree with one of his hands and continued to cough up huge amounts of blood. Gajeel launched himself onto his feet and sprinted over to Natsu, he managed to catch him just before he collapsed onto the forest floor.  
"What on Earth are you doing?! You are going to kill yourself!" Gajeel hissed as Natsu drooped into his arms, Natsu didn't have time to acknowledge Gajeel's presence before another wave of coughing started. Gajeel fumbled around in his pocket for the syringe, the liquid still had bubbles in it, but he didn't have time to run back. Gajeel thrust the needle into Natsu's bare neck, causing him to gasp in alarm and hiss in defiant anger, Gajeel cringed; maybe he did that a bit too hard.

It took only a matter of seconds until Natsu was completely weak, his eyes were almost closed, but at least the coughing had stopped. Gajeel slumped against the tree and sighed deeply, so much for sleeping, Gajeel had never been so alert in his life, his heart still thumped in his chest like a drum. He looked down at Natsu, who was lying on the grass, blood dripping from his mouth.  
"You're really causing a ruckus, you know that?" Natsu looked up at him from behind his drooping eyelids, unable to move an inch.  
"When this is all over, you are going to help me train to pay for all the trouble you've caused me; I could be back at the guild right now talking to Levy." Gajeel paused, and watched as Natsu gave a great sigh in response.  
"What? I've told you before, the shrimp likes me, I can tell." If Gajeel wasn't watching Natsu's facial expression carefully then he wouldn't have seen the slight movement of Natsu's eyebrows as they moved up towards his hairline.  
"What?" Gajeel questioned. "Okay, fine! I like her too, happy?" Natsu gave a small, satisfied huff, barely audible; he was slipping into unconsciousness.

Gajeel knew that Natsu was already aware of his feelings towards Levy, they talked about it now and again, but he just needed something to pry his thoughts away from the aggravating questions that would inevitably crawl into his head if he was not distracted with something else. He could tell Natsu anything, they understood each other, and they would often sit on the roof of the guild and talk of their parents, Igneel and Metalicana, no one else, save Wendy, knew what it felt like to wonder why their parent abandoned them, they didn't know the pain they went through thinking about the things that they would have done if they hadn't gone missing. Natsu knew, Natsu had experienced the pain that Gajeel had gone through when he had lost Metalicana, the utter despair that he had felt when he realized that Metalicana wasn't coming back, that he had left him, and he didn't know why.

And now, as Gajeel noticed the eerie black swirls that were engulfing Natsu's chest and neck, he couldn't help but remember how lonely he had felt before he had met him, he didn't realize how desolate he was before he found Natsu, someone that understood him in entirety, they could have been the same person, he even had the same obnoxious personality that attracted the wrong kind of attention.

The thought of losing the friend that had been the one thing keeping him from becoming completely derailed was tearing him apart. He sucked in a breath to calm himself and edged a bit closer to Natsu so he could examine him further. The spiraling lines had reached the back of his hairline, but instead of tattooing his scalp, the edges of his hair were turning black, like someone had dip-dyed the tips, Gajeel lifted Natsu's head so he could see the back of his neck, but this received an unconscious groan of discontent from Natsu, so he decided to leave him alone; it wasn't like Gajeel wanted to see the lines that were allegedly corrupting his friend.

Gajeel sat there for a while, out of view from everyone else around the campfire, but presumably in shouting distance. It wasn't like Gajeel couldn't carry Natsu back, he just didn't want to, he was fed up of all the moaning the others were creating, all of them clinging to Natsu like if they looked away for a second he would slip away. They couldn't afford to be fragile like that.

But it wasn't just the fact that he wanted to stay away from his apprehensive teammates, he was enjoying the company of his friend, it was selfish, but he didn't care; that wasn't normally something Gajeel would concern himself with, besides, they were all fast asleep. He stared up at the moon, the bright lunar glow was enough to light the forest, and he could even see the mountains from where he was sitting, just below those mountains, was Magnolia, they had to get there before Natsu's condition got any worse.

Gajeel didn't notice the glimpse of light coming over the trees, not until the tip of the sun could be seen over the top, and he heard a startled yelp from Lucy, he was completely oblivious to the amount of time that he had actually spent staring off into space, and it was already morning. It wasn't long before all of them were making a commotion. Gajeel huffed, grabbed Natsu's waist, and flew him over his shoulder, damn these people, they didn't have to freak out; what if he had just needed the toilet? He marched out of the tree line and into the chaos.

"Where the hell have you been? What were you doing with Natsu?" Erza challenged Gajeel. "How did none of you notice Gajeel and Natsu leave?" she inquired to the whole group, everyone looked at the floor.  
"Calm down, crazy lady. It's not like I kidnapped him; he wondered off by himself." Erza glared at Gajeel. That was a big mistake.


	11. Chapter 11

Fairy Curse  
Chapter eleven- Excessive stress and insubstantial excuses  
Panther-lily:

Lily wasn't really sure what had happened to Gajeel, all he saw was a flash of light and Gajeel was on the floor holding his head and cursing at Erza, and the next second everyone had moved on to packing things away, Erza had snatched Natsu from Gajeel's shoulder and dragged him over to the car.

Lily felt sorry for the boy, he really did, everyone was complaining about how he was causing them trouble, but they all knew that he was the one going through the most, the poor guy had been impaled with a poison arrow, had numerous coughing fits, was attacked by syringes, which he seemed to despise and to top it all off, he had been kidnapped by Gajeel; panther-lily would have to ask Gajeel about that one later.

Lily and Happy were both watching Gajeel sprawling around on the floor, although Happy looked more amused than concerned. Gray was staring up at the mountain inattentively; his mouth slightly ajar, Lucy was looking at him like his mental health could be a cause for concern.

Lily sighed and made his way over to the car, how much longer was this going to go on? This kind of thing had never happened before, so he didn't know what to expect. Panther-lily wasn't ashamed to admit it, he was glad that it wasn't Gajeel who got shot, if anyone had the ability to pull through this, it was Natsu, the intense heat of the fever would have probably killed anyone else in his situation.

Everyone had packed away, and they were now sitting in the car, in exactly the same places as before, although this time, Natsu looked even more uncomfortable with his head resting on Erza's lap. Gajeel sent her nervous glances now and again to make sure she wasn't glaring daggers at him. Lucy was folding her hands in her lap and staring at the floor, it wasn't until he noticed this that Lily was aware of the tension.

What exactly were they so stressed about? He understood that everyone was freaking out over whether or not Natsu was going to pull through, but it wasn't like this yesterday. Then it dawned on him, by the end of today they would have reached the guild, what would the master and everyone else say to them bringing back Natsu in this condition? None of them had even thought about what they were going to say, it was all about getting Natsu back to Porlyusica. How exactly were they going to explain this situation? "Sorry, but Natsu accidentally got impaled by a poisonous arrow that may kill him or possibly turn him into a blood thirsty monster that could destroy half of Fiore."? Something told Panther-lily that he didn't want to be around when that happened.

Peculiarly, it was Carla who seemed the most nervous, beads of sweet were forming on her forehead, and she was clasping her paws in her lap, something about her vision was greatly disturbing her. Panther-lily wanted to ask what it was, he wasn't afraid of her answer; her visions were not always correct, but he didn't want to upset her further, so he decided to give it a rest. The tense atmosphere in the car only grew, and by the time they had reached Magnolia, even Panther-lily had a knot in his stomach.

Before they knew it, the car was rolling up the cobbled street towards the Fairy Tail guild. A great shadow cast by the evening light stretched across the road, which added to the unbearably strained mood of the silent people in the car. But almost as if creating an explanation to their predicament, Natsu started a wave of coughing, this one even more violent and loud as the previous attacks.

The car came to a grinding halt in front of the guild and everyone exited as fast as they could, many of them receiving a splash of Natsu's blood before they could get out of the way. Erza picked Natsu up and jumped from the car, almost crushing Happy as he stood in horror at the scene that was unfolding. She took no time to plan her entrance, getting Natsu inside was more important. Grey ran in front of her and pushed open the large oak doors, no one inside had any time to register what they were seeing before Erza yelled at the top of her lungs.  
"Someone get Porlyusica!" And then silence.

Only when Lily saw the look of sheer horror on his guild mates faces did he realise how dire their situation looked. One of the strongest mages in the guild had just burst into the guild with a half dead Natsu, a look of desperation and distress planted firmly onto her face.

But it wasn't the normally unseen discomposure of their strongest female mage that shocked them the most, it was the fact that she was asking for Porlyusica when she had Wendy right next to her, what could possibly have happened that they needed a different healing mage to help them? But all their questions were answered when they saw the limp body of Natsu in Erza's arms, anyone would think him dead, if it were not for the pained, heaving breaths he was struggling to inhale between coughs, coughs that splattered fresh blood over anything in a metre distance.

He was wearing nothing but a huge, bloody bandage around his chest and his ripped trousers, blood dripped down the side of his mouth and his bloodshot eyes had dark circles beneath them, his skinny frame would make anyone think of a zombie. But what caused the most alarm was the spirals climbing his neck, which were now making their way up the side of his cheek and staining his hair black.

As long as the silence seemed to stretch, the reality was that the guild burst into chaos within a matter of seconds, not in the history of the guild had anyone seen Natsu, or anyone in the group, look so helplessly pained. Many of them ran over to them, shouting all at once, some stayed in their seats with their hands covering their mouths, too shocked to move.

Somewhere in between when they were at the car to when they were standing in the guild, someone had retrieved a syringe and had stabbed an unsuspecting Natsu with it from behind, the result being a completely dead looking Natsu in Erza's arms, which caused more disarray within the guild. The chaos lasted thirty seconds before it was stopped; Lily was counting.

"Silence!" The master roared, he was standing atop the bar, with a distraught looking Mirajane behind him, and a wide eyed Laxus in front. Everyone stopped and made way for him to approach the group, the intense pressure in the car was nothing compared to the suspense that filled the guild hall. The master made his way down the row or tables and stopped in front of Erza.  
"What in two worlds did you do to the boy?"

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A/N: I was thinking about doing illustrations for each of the chapters, but then i realized that the only site i could put them on of which i have uploaded the story is deviantart, and that already has the covers for each of the chapters too, wattpad can have one picture, so i would have to give up either the cover or the illustration, and besides, my drawing aren't too good x3 And Fanfiction can only have the front cover... oh well, maybe i will draw them for my own entertainment :D If anyone wants the link for my deviantart page(Where you can see all the covers 3 Which i do for each of the chapters) then contact me in PM :3

Or you could look up 0mgness in the deviantart search box and look through my gallery x3-probably a better idea


	12. Chapter 12

Fairy Curse  
Chapter twelve-Pandemonium  
Laxus:

The pandemonium that had erupted when Erza walked in with a living corpse Natsu was enough to scare anyone away from the guild for a lifetime. The shock of seeing two of their most dependable guild mates in such a state caused uproar. Laxus couldn't believe it himself, what could have done that to Natsu?

When he first saw Natsu's bloody, skinny body lying limply in Erza's arms, he thought him dead; a feeling of horror flew through him like a bolt of lightning. But then a cough so violent that it sent blood across the room like a fountain burst from his throat, he wasn't sure which was better; how much longer would Natsu survive like this anyway? He looked in so much pain, his eyes were bloodshot, and he wore a grimace of agony.

The crowd had encompassed him, and when they moved, Natsu was unconscious, a needle sticking from his throat. Laxus was about to get up and approach them himself, but that was when his grandfather shook the very earth they stood on with a tremendous roar.  
"Silence!" The guild hall fell quiet, and Makarov stalked down the aisle, he stopped in front of Erza, and she looked down at him with the tips of her mouth tilted downwards in a frown. His fierce expression of horror did not soften at her discomfort. "What in two worlds did you do to the boy?"  
Erza looked taken aback. "It wasn't us! It was..." Erza paused, either she was unsure of the answer, or she didn't want to tell them.

Laxus jumped from his seat and went to stand next Makarov, lightning bolts shot from his eyes in anger. "Who did this to Natsu?" Laxus demanded, as he glared down at Erza.  
"We don't know." Gray said, with equal severity as he stepped forward.  
"What do you mean 'you don't know'? Were you not keeping an eye on him? I had thought that we all agreed that not supervising the boy was an ill-advised idea." Makarov retorted.  
"I mean, we don't know who they were."Gray wasn't backing down.  
"And what exactly did 'they' do?" Gray stiffened, obviously unsure how to phrase his answer.  
"Impaled him with a cursed arrow."Gajeel said matter-of-factually. Even Lily widened his eyes at Gajeel's bluntness, but Gray seemed relieved.  
"Did this 'curse' happen to have anything to do with Lunar ivy?" Makarov questioned, his eyes growing wide. The group exchanged surprised looks before they answered. "Yes...how did you know?"Lucy said, dreading the answer. Makarov clenched his teeth, he didn't look pleased.

"I knew it, I could recognize those spiraling lines anywhere, Erza was right, Jet, get Porlyusica."Jet wasted no time, he shot of in a blur of wind through the open doors of the guild, everyone else was muttering quietly, even Juvia, who would have otherwise been drooling over Gray.  
"You lot get Natsu upstairs."Makarov pointed at the Erza and the group. "Everyone else can go back to what they were doing! Let us attempt to keep things relatively normal." Laxus took Natsu from Erza, she looked like she was having a hard time holding him; he may have been extremely skinny, but he was still almost a fully grown man.

But he was shocked at how light he was, and he suddenly became angry, how could Natsu be so ill that he wouldn't eat? Laxus threw the wooden door open that lead upstairs and started climbing, Erza and the rest of the group made sure to stay at least a meter away from him; there were lightning sparks flying off in all angles.

As they entered the medical room, Wendy ran over to the heart monitor and jump started it with some kind of magic, she must have learnt that on the quest. Laxus set Natsu down onto the bed and stepped backwards, he had never seen him so helpless before, just what happened to him?

Everyone piled in and sat around the bed, fortunately, the room was large enough to fit a more than twenty people in, so they didn't have a problem with space. Mirajane, Laxus and Makarov were the only ones present in the room that weren't on the quest that the group had just returned from, and they all stared at Erza expectantly, as she seemed to be the one that would be able to give the most accurate explanation to Natsu's condition. She looked surprised at the sudden attention she was receiving and she shuffled awkwardly.

"Just spit it out already, what happened?"Laxus broke the silence that was starting to create tension inside the room. Erza inhaled deeply.  
"It was when we were walking back, we had just finished the mission, no problem there, but all of a sudden, these two guys attacked us and shot an arrow through Natsu's chest." Mirajane flinched. Makarov and Laxus' eyes widened.  
"How the hell did they manage to do that?"Laxus asked, clearly surprised that Natsu could ever be injured to that extent. Erza opened her mouth, but no words came out; even she didn't have an explanation.

"He was too distracted."Gajeel interrupted. "He'd been like it all day, staring off into space." Makarov narrowed his eyes at Gajeel.  
"That certainly could have been a possibility, but, answer me this- how did no one else out of a group of seven not notice an arrow come flying towards him?" Gajeel didn't have time to answer, as an incredibly flustered looking Porlyusica burst through the door, which flew open and hit Lucy square in the face.

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A/N: i have no idea when to post the chapters, so i am just doing it randomly :3 I should probably be more organised... anyways, this is the first chapter with Laxus , yay 3


	13. Chapter 13

Fairy Curse  
Chapter thirteen- There is no cure for a broken heart  
Lucy:

Lucy acquired the shock of her life as the tense mood was suddenly interrupted by the wooden door slamming into her face, Lucy was certain that she saw stars, and her vision became blotchy.  
"Where's the boy?!" Porlyusica besieged, her pink hair coming out of her bun at odd angles. She didn't even wait for answer; as soon as she saw Natsu sprawled out on the bed she froze in shock, then without so much as a word, she burrowed her way into the crowd towards the bed.

Laxus didn't have time to move aside before he was pushed backwards, and he ended up elbowing Gajeel in the stomach, which then ended with both of them on the floor. Laxus must have been very heavy, because Gajeel went red, or maybe that was the anger; the noise of Gajeel's teeth grinding together could be heard across the room, and everyone braced themselves.  
"Get off of me, you overgrown light bul-"  
"Silence!" Porlyusica roared, causing both Gajeel and Laxus to freeze."How am I supposed to examine the boy if you two idiots are having a childish squabble behind me?! Stand there quietly or leave immediately!" Not another word was spoken; Laxus removed himself from on top of Gajeel and they both stood in silence. Makarov was sending a disapproving glare at both his grandson and the iron dragon slayer.

Porlyusica cursed as she examined Natsu's neck, the tips of his hair were a dark black colour, and the swirls were making their way up the side of his cheek towards his eyes. Blood was still running down the sides of his mouth, and his pale, sickly complexion would convince anyone that he was at death's door. Lucy felt her heart leap inside her chest, if even Porlyusica was worried about this, then what could they possibly do to help him?

Lucy latched on to the nearest thing she could find, which happened to be panther-lily; he was standing atop the cabinet next to her. He gave a meow of surprise that morphed into a cough as he realized what she was doing, everyone turned to look for the source of the strange noise, and they witnessed panther-lily being suffocated in Lucy's chest. But no one had time to remind her that the fluffy object she was clutching was in fact Panther-lily, as Porlyusica gave a frustrated sigh from the centre of the room.

Porlyusica clasped her hands together and rested her head on them, with her elbows on the bed and her eyes squeezed shut. Everyone shared concerned looks, and Makarov cleared his throat, Porlyusica opened one eye to look at him, she sighed again and threw her hands in the air.  
"It seems to me like we are too late." Mirajane, Laxus and Makarov became shocked, Makarov's eyebrows shot up into his hair and Mirajane covered her mouth with a shaking hand.

"Too late? What do you mean?" Makarov questioned, the sides of his mouth turned down in a grimace.  
"I _mean_- there is no way to cure this boy of the poison he has attained, it will take effect, and if it doesn't kill him then it will corrupt his soul and turn him into a demon, very much alike to one of Zeref's own, in fact," Porlyusica paused and examined the wound on Natsu's chest. "I probably would be safe from being wrong if I said that Zeref's own followers were probably involved in this." This time everyone was shocked.  
"Zeref's demons? Like ...Deliora?" Gray look horrified, he was gripping the edge of the cabinet so hard that his nails made marks on the wood.  
"Hmm, not so much on the appearance side of it, but he would most certainly have the heart of a monster."Porlyusica replied, while she examined a syringe full of the liquid that Doctor Wooding had given them.

Everyone looked at Natsu, who was still blissfully unaware of his friends' new found fear towards him, his hair spread across the pillow, and his breathing sounded even more strained then it did before. For a split second, Lucy truly believed she was staring at a dead body; never before had she seen Natsu's cheekbones so painfully defined, sweat droplets collected on his pale forehead as he struggled to breath. Lucy saw Erza clench her fists.

"Is there a way to reverse it once it has taken over?" Erza demanded, everyone looked at Porlyusica hopefully; they didn't know what they would do if Natsu turned against them. Porlyusica thought for a moment, she furrowed her brows and subconsciously scratched her palms-clearly a habit of deep thought. Then she snapped her head up, surprising all of the people inside of the room, who then shared concerned looks.  
"Oh, no...that would be too dangerous, and the odds of you going to the right place would be slim." Porlyusica said, like she expected them to have heard the silent conversation she had with them inside her mind, she examined them all, which caused a shiver to run down Lucy's spine.  
"Unless..." The rest of her sentence seemed to disappear into her own thoughts.

This time everyone looked to Makarov, who shifted uncomfortably under the sudden attention. For the second time, he cleared his throat, and sucked in a long, deep breath.  
"Porlyusica, I assure you that nothing could seem too dangerous when it comes to anyone in the guild's safety. We _will _find a way to save Natsu; even if it costs us dearly.I would rather give up my place as Master than let Natsu die, or worse, become a demon." Porlyusica sighed deeply at this and made various facial expressions which varied from seriousness to shock.  
"Very well, I can see that you won't give up on i will say this again, it will be very hard to find, and that is just if Akuma _isn't _guarding it." Lucy was beginning to suspect that due to Porlyusica's lack of human contact, she was often having one-sided conversations within her own head.

After a long period of silence, Porlyusica seemed to realize that they hadn't managed to hear her inner debate, and she gave them disapproving looks, like it was only natural for them to be able to communicate inside her mind.  
"There is something that can be done to reverse the curse, but the path to finding it is very precarious." she finally enlightened them. Everyone looked at each other with the same determined look in their eyes, they would do whatever it takes, no matter how dangerous or difficult it may be.

The only noise that was made in that moment was the sudden, sharp intake of breath from Panther-lily, who had finally managed to wriggle out of Lucy's grip.

* * *

A/N: I have hit a wall.. i need inspiration guys. seriously. Ugh, and i have school tomorrow :'( , but i drew the blonde guy with the scar i mentioned in the first chapter, it doesn't look that bad x3 I feel sick, like, motion sick, i suffer from severe motion sickness and i have just come back from a day out, on the bus ~.~ heh, maybe i am a dragon slayer xP


	14. Chapter 14

Fairy Curse  
Chapter fourteen-Four teams of two  
Happy:

"There is only one thing that can cure the boy of this curse, and that is a special kind of plant." Happy had a bad feeling about this. "This plant is very easily recognised, but, it is very hard to locate, as it is protected by a incredibly powerful magical being." Great, now they were going to have to fight an 'incredibly powerful magical being' before they can reverse the poison's effect. Just how long is it going to take? Will Natsu have turned into a rampaging demon and destroyed half of Fiore before they can find this 'special kind of plant'?

Happy knew he was being unnecessarily negative, but he just couldn't bring himself to be hopeful. His best friend was dying in front of him and even Porlyusica couldn't stop the poison. They were all talking like Natsu would definitely become a demon, but what if the poison killed him instead? Reversing the curse wouldn't help him then.

Another surge of depression rolled through him like a wave, what would Happy do without Natsu? He couldn't even start to imagine life without him.  
"Four groups of two must be decided for this task, but only one group will find the flower, so it is essential that a decent fighter be in all of them. We will also need someone of considerable intelligence to work out where the flower is hidden." Happy looked around at his friends, he wasn't a decent fighter, nor was he intelligent, would he just end up doing nothing for his friend while he destroyed his home and family?

The rest of Porlyusica's description was blurry, happy did not seem able to concentrate on her words; all he could think of was Natsu turning evil, what could _he _do to help him, he was just an Exceed, just a cat. Before he knew it everyone was getting up and going downstairs, probably to inform everyone else of their plan.

Happy followed the moving figures and sat on one of their shoulders, he didn't really care who it was, but soon enough he was carefully picked up and cuddled by Levy, so it was most likely Gajeel that he sat on. Happy would have been surprised that he didn't kick him off, but all that he could think of was demons and magical beasts, the thoughts swirled around in his mind like a hurricane trying to keep him from thinking straight.

Levy stroked his head softly and continued listening to Gajeel's explanation of what happened. And what they were going to do next.  
"We have to split up into teams, four groups of two which must have someone intelligent and someone good at fighting, each group will go to one of the four places where the plant could be." Happy felt Levy nod at this, her light blue curls bounced around by his head. It was then that the teams were decided.

Elfman and Evergreen would go south, where a large cave burrowing into the mountain was rumored to hold the special plant.

Laxus and Mirajane would go east, towards the sea, where the fishermen had talked of a cursed beach; Porlyusica thought that it would be a good place to look.

Grey and Freed would go west; apparently the villagers had been having trouble with a haunted forest.

Gajeel and Levy were to go north, where travelers had seen a flying horse dive into a forbidden valley.

In other circumstances, Happy would have made a joke at the fact that Gajeel and Levy were in a team together, but he didn't have the humor left; he felt like it had been drained like a ringed towel. Everyone began chattering restlessly after the teams had been announced, but Lucy and Erza were annoyed the most; they hadn't been put in a team and made sure to express their anger.

Happy started listening to the conversations; although he wasn't going anywhere to help Natsu, lying in Levy's arms wasn't going to get him anywhere, Makarov must have thought about what everyone else could do if they left so many out of the teams.  
"Be quiet, there is something for all of you to do."Makarov shouted and looked to Porlyusica. She cleared her throat and look apprehensively at all the people below her.  
"Although we are sending teams to find the plant, it is very unlikely that they will be back in time, or that they will find it at all. I am afraid that only luck can help you now, so, it is important that capable people are left to protect the guild. God knows what the boy could do if he is given Zeref's power." Everyone quietened and looked around, looking for reassurance from their guild mates. But none could be given, as everyone was just as shaken up as the last.

Levy and Gajeel glanced at each other and contemplated the idea of being in a team, they certainly didn't seem unhappy about it, but what would happen if they ended up travelling across Fiore with just each other for company? And also, Elfman and Evergreen were definitely in some kind of relationship, they may like to think that no one has noticed, but Happy doubted there was anyone thick enough in the guild to have not caught on by now, even Natsu, who never really thought about the idea of love, and didn't find it embarrassing to walk around the guild half naked now and again, to which he got severely told off by Erza. He could say the same about Gray, but no one ever bothered to tell Gray off anymore, and having Juvia obsessing over him all the time made him very aware of the concept of love, even if it wasn't exactly the best form.

Happy tried to keep his thoughts on all the couples he could think of in the guild, he went through each one and decided whether or not they could actually be real, Max X Broom was definitely real. Happy tried to laugh at his own half-hearted joke, but the corners of his mouth stayed down. He sighed at his own failure to cheer himself up, and cuddled up to Levy, her familiar scent relaxed him, and he quickly managed to drift to sleep inside her arms, thinking of magical beasts and demons destroying the guild.

* * *

A/N: Gah, i havn't updated in ages, i know, i am sorry, but i have been watching Bleach, omg, it is amazing, got to episode 300 already and i think i have kind of decided on a 'must update by' day, either thursday or friday, what do you think ? and omg, Gajevy, Gajevy will be happening guys, i just...can't not put Gajevy in. And elfgreen, and Miraxus, i would have put Gruvia as one of the teams, but Juvia isn't really seen as particularly intelligent or anything.


	15. Chapter 15

Fairy Curse  
Chapter fifteen-Anti-social? Who, me?  
Gray:

Gray didn't really understand what he was doing, but he got the gist from Freed, apparently they were heading west to find some kind of plant in the forest. Porlyusica had given them a detailed description of what they were looking for, but Grey had found it hard to concentrate, all he could think about was Deliora, would Natsu really turn into a demon like that? Deliora was so powerful that his own teacher had to sacrifice herself to merely seal him away, what could they do against something like that happening to Natsu?

Natsu had even scared Gray sometimes with his ferocious, aggressive attitude, his eyes could turn unnervingly evil if he was angry, which intimidated even his own team mates, he couldn't imagine being on the receiving end of such a force. The fights they had at the guild were nothing compared to real fights with enemies, Gray had no doubt that Natsu was stronger than him, even if he would never admit it.

Gray sighed and looked over to Freed across from him in the train carriage, he was talking to Levy in the communication orb, and Gray could see Gajeel's huge muscular shoulder next to her. They were like hell and heaven those two, Levy was a small, intelligent, quite girl, and Gajeel was a giant, aggressive vicious Dragon Slayer, how they managed to get along was beyond him, although he was certain that Levy had quite the crush on the larger man.

Freed yawned as he shut off the communicator and lean back on the seat, Gray didn't dislike Freed, but he would have preferred to be teamed up with someone else, Freed didn't seem all too talkative. But apparently he was slightly more intelligent than him, so there you have it, but whether or not he will be able to find this stupid plant was another story.

What really worried Gray was how Erza and the rest of the guild members that were left behind would cope with not doing anything, he knew himself that he wouldn't be able to sit still and wait for the curse to either kill or corrupt Natsu, not if it would turn him into something even more powerful than Deliora. Gray knew he was scared, he was scared because of what had happened in the past, the same demon Natsu had saved him from sacrificing himself to seal; now he was turning into a monster just like it.

The train engine hissed and the carriage lurched forward, making Gray yet again think back to the times when Natsu was with him, when Erza would let him rest his head on her lap as he was on the brink of throwing up. Why couldn't things be calm like that again? Would they really have to see Natsu destroy the guild in front of them when they return? How could Gray go back without the flower? If there is such a low chance of him finding it, he couldn't imagine any of them leaving without it, even Elfman and Evergreen, that's how important Natsu is to everyone.

Gray rested his head on the side of the train and closed his eyes, he heard Freed yawn again and start to mess around with the map that they had been given, was he really going to be stuck with this guy?

Twelve hours later and two train changes, Gray and Freed finally stepped off the train and stretched their arms. Freed retrieved the map and the job request sheet from his bag and examined the small writing. Gray looked around him at the station while Freed was working out where they should go.

The station was very small and run down, with a wooden shelter for the office and a number of large pine trees growing in through the windows and over the tracks, almost creating a tunnel of green pine needles. But what freaked Gray out the most was the sheer size of the huge trees around them, the only glimpse that could be seen of the clear blue sky was directly above them, and Gray had to crane his neck to watch the birds overhead.

Freed finished reading the map and job request and put them back in his bag, he pointed to the road leading into the forest and gestured to Gray that they were going that way, Gray sighed and started making his way through the dense pile of pine needles on the floor and into the thick forest.

After about a mile or two of silence, they reached a large log cabin surrounded by smaller trees, there were signs of large tree trucks around the edges of the clearing, the owners must have cut down the larger trees to make space for their home. Freed waltzed up to the door without hesitation and knocked twice, the noise echoed through the eerie forest and sent a chill down Gray's back. A small, chubby man opened the door and looked up at Freed through his spectacle.  
"Yes?" he said, with a very posh attitude.  
"We are here to see the mayor of the...town about this job request."Freed held up the piece of paper he had recently taken from his bag and handed it to the man, who studied it suspiciously, after a minute or two the man looked up from the paper.  
"Very well, come inside." Great, now Gray was stuck with two anti-social people.

Gray tugged at the loose black t-shirt he was reluctantly wearing and ran his finger around the neck, jut keeping it on was hard enough in this awkward situation, but suddenly the neck started feeling tighter, almost like it was trying to strangle him to relieve him of his misery. Gray and Freed followed the man into the log cabin, which turned out to be some kind of police station crossed with a bank, it was obvious that they didn't need a separate building for each as they seemed to have a lack of actual people living in the area, Gray thought to himself as he examined the strange pictures on the walls, many of them seemed to feature people in high places, as the only thing seen in the background was a thick wall of pine needles, not a trunk in sight, which seemed quite strange to Gray, as the trunks of the trees were at least ten meters high.

The man invited them to sit and he placed himself onto a stool in the center of the room, Freed joined him next to the empty fireplace, which was covered in cob webs, not surprising, seen as starting a fire in such a crowded forest would probably be unwise.

"So, you are here about these killings I presume?"the man said in a serious tone, gesturing to the paper he was holding, it was now that Gray wished he had actually read the request sheet.

* * *

A/N: Okay..i am sorry...hehe, i know it issa bit late..but here it is still friday...? , anyways, Got a quick Chapter with Gray and Freed, kinda feel sorry for Gray, lolz. I wonder who has been murdering all these non-existent people, and why on Earth did't Gray read the job request thingy?


	16. Chapter 16

Fairy Curse  
Chapter sixteen-Men aren't scared of spiders  
Elfman:

Elfman was enjoying his little trip with Evergreen, but every time he was reminded of Natsu his mood would drop. Not once before had he ever had to be worried about Natsu, he was always the one to pull through, no matter what. But this time things were different, there was no way to save him , all they could do was wait for him to die. Elfman didn't want to think about the other option.

Evergreen was busy studying a map they were given as they walked up the side of the mountain, the mountain itself wasn't very far from the guild, but the winding paths made the journey long. Elman walked with his head down as he dragged his boots along the ground, creating a trail of upturned soil behind him, Evergreen looked up from the map and looked at him with sympathy, something he didn't want to be given. He sighed deeply and straightened his back; they would have to get through this, even if it meant forcing himself to be happy, thinking about it would not help the situation.

Makarov had told them to make sure they stayed in contact with the group, so they had planned a break in their journey to stop and set up the communication orb, Elfman didn't want to talk to the others, so he had asked Evergreen to take care of it, and he had volunteered to carry all the luggage, she was staring at it now, her eyes narrowing in concentration.  
"What's wrong?"Elfman asked, the first words spoken in a few minutes. Evergreen looked up at him and shrugged.

"I am just admiring the thermostatic converters that transfer the thermal energy from my magic power into microscopic sound waves that travel through the orb's glass and into the image reflection and teleporter." Evergreen stated matter-of-factly. Elfman nodded slowly, his eyes flicking from her face to the orb. Evergreen sighed and looked at him in disbelief.  
"Let's just say...microphone." She said and went to sit on a nearby log so she could place the orb on a steady surface.

Elfman rolled his eyes and leant against the tree next to her, there was no point in arguing with Evergreen, she as a monster when it came to stuff that Elfman didn't understand. The strange light inside the orb flashed three times before an image of Makarov and Erza popped into view.

Erza still looked depressed, which made Elfman feel even worse about not trying hard enough to save Natsu, but he had already given up, he didn't want to see the look on his guild mates faces when Natsu died, but he couldn't even begin to imagine what they would be like if they had to kill him themselves because he was turning into some kind of demonic creature, he didn't want to imagine, so he didn't.

"What is the situation with you?" Evergreen said, and snapped Elfman out of his thoughts. Makarov looked grim, but he still held his head high, which meant that there was still hope for Natsu.  
"At the moment, nothing. But each time we go check on him more of those unappealing black lines are crawling up the side of his face." He sighed and looked up to Erza, who was staring off into the guild somewhere, she didn't look happy to be there.

"What did the other teams say?" Evergreen asked quickly, trying to avoid the subject of Natsu's condition.  
"Gray and Freed have reached their destination, and are looking into the strange issue there, Gajeel and Levy are on their way to Goruka station, whether they will be able to find a train that goes all the way to Kurosaki is another issue , they may have to keep swapping trains, which was always going to be a problem with that kind of distance, but apparently Porlyusica is sure that it is a valuable clue in finding the plant." Evergreen nodded her head, out of the four groups, Levy and Gajeel had to travel the farthest, as Kurosaki was located at the furthest northern tip of Fiore, none of the guild members had been that far away from Magnolia before, and Elfman was glad that he and Evergreen weren't the group sent after the rumoured flying horse.

After Evergreen had confirmed their position and shut down the orb, they continued on their journey up the mountain, which lead them to a small cave entrance next to an abandoned coal mine. Elfman walked in without a second thought to the overly large spider webs hanging from the entrance, but Evergreen stopped and observed them from a few meters away.

"Elfman. I am not wrong in the assumption that these spider webs are too large to be normal, correct?" Elfman shrugged and continued down into the cave, it was a while before Evergreen followed him , because she was fiddling around in her bag for her hat, which she covered her neck with. Elfman rolled his eyes at this, spiders weren't that dangerous, he didn't understand why females were so freaked by them.

But this was the last time Elfman ever thought that spiders weren't creepy, because as they entered a large cavern they saw the fright of their lives, hundreds if not thousands of huge spiders lined the walls with their silver webs, their huge legs covered the area of at least three meters and each and every one of them turned to look at them.

This little journey of theirs wasn't as nice as Elfman had previously thought.

* * *

A/N: i am soooryyyy, i know it isn't friday, it isn't even saturday...but ..but ..but you know...sometimes i get distracted. more than sometimes, it is a habit of mine , hehe. but anyways, have some Elfgreen *shoves in face* , i love Elfgreen ...i really do..anyways, i wonder who the next chapter will be about...? maybe Gajevy's super long holiday on the train? Or maybe Miraxus's beach trip? oh i am so evil. oh yes...find the Bleach reference :P


	17. Chapter 17

**CAUTION: This chapter might contain content which some readers may find distressing.**

**PG13 +**

Fairy Curse  
Chapter Seventeen- The evil within  
Natsu:

Natsu felt the arrow as it impaled him, he felt his head collide with the bricks, and he saw the blurs move around him, he heard the screams and the shouts. The worst one was Lucy, he didn't know how he recognized the voice, but it was her, the person he cared for most was wailing over him, clearly in distress, he wanted to get up, he wanted to hold her and tell her it was okay; apologise for causing her worry.

But he couldn't , he tried to lift his hand, to reach for her face, brush the tears from her reddening cheeks, but instead he found himself unable to move the pain controlled his thoughts, he felt the poison spread through his chest, each second excruciatingly painful, it felt like he was being torn apart from inside, it felt evil.

The next thing he remembered was the pain increasing so drastically that it dragged him from his unconsciousness, the blurs moved around him wildly, the voices familiar, yet he was unable to place them with names, his mind was whirring like a fierce wind, he couldn't hold his line of thought for more than a second, he was panicking. Something was being ripped from his chest, the pain was almost unbearable, surely his friends could not cause him such pain, something must have been wrong, but before any rational explanation could form in his chaotic mind, Natsu once again slipped into unconsciousness.

After that he remembered slipping in and out of consciousness, images and faces flashed in his memory, a log, trees, Gajeel, wooden floorboards and the roof of the guild. Somehow they had made it home, then he found himself listening to Porlyusica's stern voice, he couldn't make out her words, but the low murmurs of his guild mates calmed him.

He tried to open his eyes, to figure out what was going on, to stop it and return to fussing over everyone else's needs, he didn't want to be the source of the problem; it made him feel like a burden. He didn't want his friends to worry, like he worried when another day passed since he last saw Igneel, when that day turned into month, a year. He didn't want any of his friends to feel that way.

But suddenly, before he could even think of a way to communicate with his friends, he was sucked into darkness, the poison suddenly entering his mind, he was being thrown through darkness, fire enveloped him, dark, evil fire, he heard the screams of his friends, burning, he heard the fire rage.

Far below him, he saw Lucy, her arms and legs burnt and bleeding, tears streamed down her face as she yelled at him, her mouth moved, she was wailing. But no matter how hard Natsu tried he couldn't focus on the words she was saying, all he heard was screaming, the fire, the crashing of timber. The guild was burning down around him, bodies lay around the guild, burnt to charcoal, features indistinguishable. Friends were mourning over the loss of their loved ones.

Levy was kneeling over something on the floor, half of her face had been badly burnt. She was rocking back and forth while she bawled over the limp figure , her mouth wide in a wail, her bloodied cheeks stained with her tears.

Gajeel lay in a pool of dark red blood, deep wounds lined his sides; marks from a large jaw of a vicious animal. He was struggling to breath, his chest heaving as he drew in pained gasps. The fire raged around them, and Gajeel coughed up a large amount of blood before reaching for Levy's shaking hand.

She responded to his touch by wrapping her arms around his waist, her tears continuing to fall onto his bloodied chest, Lily was next to her, his wings broken and bent at strange angles, his back curved in exhaustion. He sat by Gajeel's head, his eyes wide and unseeing.

As Natsu witnessed Levy desperately grasping Gajeel's weak hand, he felt unnerving sense of horror, what could possibly left Gajeel of all people so helplessly impaired?

The screams surrounding him increased as Lisanna scrambled from the wreckage and saw her sister and Evergreen mourning over the lifeless body of Elfman, the whole of his left arm and half of his side missing. Mirajane wailed angrily and hit the floor, unable to move due to a horribly broken leg. Evergreen sat next to her, her eyes devoid of any emotion, the fire around her creating eerie shadows over her face as she looked ahead of her. Her shoulder shook uncontrollably as she cried. Her glasses were broken and bent, her hair burnt and dress ripped.

Natsu felt wrong, deep down he knew he should have reacted drastically as soon as he had seen Lucy on the floor below him, but the thoughts were not being processed by his body.

He turned again to the injured body of one of his closest friends, the movement appearing slow and heavy. Natsu shouted in frustration, but was interrupted by a horrific beastly roar.

Gajeel's eyes snapped over in Natsu's direction and he attempted to push Levy off of him, her cries became reluctant wails. Gajeel's mouth shaped a frantic order, his eyes pleading as he coughed up yet another mouthful of blood, Levy shook her head and clung to his arm as Lily halfheartedly tried to pull her off, his only reason being Gajeel's request.

As Natsu started in their direction, his slow movements seeming almost involuntary, he finally understood the hasty and desperate shouts escaping Gajeel's blood stained mouth."Run, Levy."

**to be continued...**


End file.
